POLI 363 Canadian Foreign Policy Quiz #1

What are the major themes in Canadian Foreign policy

1. The Role of Geography

2. The Fight for Independence in Foreign Policy

3. Canada’s Search for Independence in the World

4. Canada as the “Peacemaker” in Support for Global Stability

5. The Link Between Domestic and Foreign Policy

6. Canada and the Commitment Capability Gap

What is Canada’s Area in Land?

9, 984, 670 km² in Area (2nd after Russia)

What is Canada’s Coastline Area?

243, 797 km in Coastline (Longest in the World)

What is Canada’s Border Length?

8,893 km long border (Longest in the World)

How is Canada’s geography important?

1. Size of land matters

2. Canada and its proximity to the US

3. Canada in context of North America and the Arctic

How does Land size matter?

Canada being a large country with a lot of land is both a blessing and a curse. It makes us rich in land-intensive resources and area to built, but the huge amount of territory makes it hard to protect.

How is Canada’s Proximity to the States important?

→ Canada is practically sandwiched between US territory, leaving us right beside the world’s economic and technological superpower.

→ This proves to be both a blessing and a curse in that close proximity makes us efficient trade partners, but also negative as the political landscape of America is more quickly to bleed into Canada above another countries.
→ Because we are bordered by America, it is essential Canada finds counterweights to balance the power of America should something in our relationship go wrong.

Counterweights

• Counterweighs are essentially assets that can balance the power of a country relative to another.

  • → This can be accomplished by allying with other countries/regions.

  • → The desire to achieve counterweighs is also an expression to achieve some measure of independence or separation from the US and to achieve a sense of national identity.

  • → Essentially, Canada is attempting to get rid of the “Canada as America’s top hat” schema.

How is Canada’s Positionality in the context of the larger North America important?

As the Arctic becomes an increasingly significant as an enticing route for trade, climate change, etc, Canada’s positionality makes it an important country to consider when speaking of Arctic affairs.

What is Canada’s Brief History of Allegiance (Pax Britannica and Pax Americana)?

→ Historically, Canada was first allied strongly with Britain during world wars 1 and 2 as they existed as the hegemon (pax britannica). However, as the world order began to shift after WWII, Canada allied with the US in return for security dependence and joined NATO.

What does “Canada as a satellite state” mean?

To say Canada is a “satellite state” is to say that Canada is seen as a top hat, a lap dog, or essentially an appendage who sits comfortably at the lap of their great power neighbor (the US).

What is Canada’s record of independence?

→ Canada is not exclusively dependent/subservient to the States.

→ Canada did not participate in the Vietnam or 2003 Iraq War.

→ This illustrates that Canada does have a record of not participating in military diplomatic endeavours of Pax Americana…

What is the Functional Principle?

→ Outlined by Mackenzie King, the principle states that a country will only be functional at the roundtable if they have paid their fee to have such a seat.

→ Essentially, Canada on its own does not have enough power to operate or act independently. Therefore, if they want a seat at the table of great powers, and more importantly, have a say in the course of events, they must contribute to the collective effort.

→ Whether it be through money, military, etc,those who contribute are those who get a seat and can make a change.

What does “Canada as a Peacekeeper” Mean?

→ Canada has maintained the role of the “peacekeeper” in their engagement with the UN.

→ Essentially, we are a country who yields the idea that peace and security is needed globally, and because we yield and disperse that idea of peace, Canada has contributed to global peace and security.

What is Canada’s Link Between Domestic and Foreign Affairs?

→ Canada’s foreign policy is essentially an extension of their domestic politics, interest groups, and values.

Canada and the Commitment Capability Cap

→ Canada has not invested in their foreign defence policy enough to meet their commitments.

→ Essentially, people view Canada as the “free rider” who contributes just enough to be at the table, but are still overwhelmingly reliant on others such as the States to get the job done.

1. → Canada “talks the talk” but does not “walk the walk.”

The Middle Power

→ A middle power is a state that is not a superpower or a great power, but still exerts influence and plays a significant role in international relations.

→ Usually, the function as a middle ground broker who works behind the scenes as the “helpful fixer” and engage in “quiet diplomacy.”

“Special Relationship”

• → This “special relationship” (and its tensions) was historically denoted between Canada and the UK, coined by Winston Churchill.

• → However, the term was absorbed by the relationship between Canada and the US as allegiance began to shift after WWII.

What are the 4 core elements of the Canada-US “Special Relationship”

1. Trade

2. Security and Defence

3. Social and Cultural Points

4. Sovereignty and Independence

Trade as an element of the special relationship

→ Canada and the US built a very close and special trade relationship which spans a huge array of goods, services, and finances.

→ This trade relationship is the result of a steady history of the increasing removal of barriers.

→ While there are some tensions, the general vibe was characteristic of cooperation and a trend of greater and greater cooperation.

Security and Defence as an Element of the Special Relatoinship

1. Both Canada and the US shared the problem of North American security and defence together, characteristic of intimate arangements.

2. → There are tensions as the US argues that Canada essentially free rides off the states, and differing opinions in migration, border security, visa policy, etc.

3. → Despite tensions, the relationship was extremely close with over 250 treaties and arrangements between the two states.

Social and Cultural Points as an Element in the Special Relationship

1. Common cultural points:

   1. > Common English linguistic point

   2. > Common social media, music, art culture.

2. → there were tensions as Canada did not want to be “absorbed” into the American culture and wanted to make a Canadian social and cultural.

Sovereignty and Independence as an Element in the special relationship

Despite tensions, both Canada and the US saw each other with mutual respect and recognize each other’s state’s sovereignty.

What Happened in the First Trump Administration?

• the transition into the first Trump administration began the dissolution of Canada and the US’ once “special relationship.”

• → At the time of his first administration, Canada and the US saw a dramatic shift and the initial breakage of their “special relationship” with one another.

• → At this time, Canadian officials grappled with what this meant. That was until, it seemed like things would go back to normal once Biden took office.

What are some characteristic of the Trump Administration

1. Steel and Aluminum Tariffs

2. NAFTA Threats and Renegotiations

3. Border Security

4. COVID-19 Restrictions and Border Closures

5. Opposition to Multilateralism

Steel and Aluminum Tariffs in the 1st Trump Administration

→ Adding tariffs against Canada was strategic with the desire to protect the American steel industry against foreign competition.

→ Previous foreign agreements were labeled as “bad deals” and were therefore “needed” to be revised, changed, or abolished.

Border Security in the First Trump Administration

→ Concerned with immigration, migration, and refugees, Trump’s desire to essentially close or tightly constrain borders was met with tension as Canada wanted open borders for migration and trade to open flow.

Trump’s Opposition to Multilateralism

→ Trump heavily opposed mulilateralism in ways that disadvantaged the US.

What did Biden accomplish in his administration?

• → Although not perfect, the Biden administration was concerned with renewing the US-Canadian relationship, making the roadmap for the plan:

• → Seen as a major reset of the “special relationship,” despite tensions, yet it still seemed like this relationship was back.

Biden’s Roadmap for Renewed Canada-US Relationship

1. Combatting COVID-19

2. Building Back Better

3. Accelerating Climate Ambitions

4. Advancing Diversity and Inclusion

5. Bolstering Security and Defence

6. Building Global Alliances

What Did Trump Accomplish in his 2nd Administration?

• → The second Trmp administration is an era where the previous “special relationship” between Canada and the US arguably does not exist.

• → Essentially, we are at no point where change is more powerful than continuity and that the “special relationship” between the two states no longer exist as Canada can no longer expected collaboration or mutual respect moving forward.

What are the characteristics of Trump’s 2nd administration?

1. Tariffs

2. “Jokes” About Canada Becoming the 51st State

3. References to the Border (and Water)

4. Continental Visions About Greenland, Panama, and Venezuela

5. Threats to Cancel CUSMA

Tariffs in the 2nd Trump Administration

1. → The tariffs was much more stark than before, where Trump used it as a weapon for other states to comply with his policies.

   1. ↳ 25% tariffs on threats to US Border security

      1. ↳ Essentially, protect the border…or else…

   2. ↳ 50% tariffs on steal and aluminium

   3. ↳ 35% tariffs on non-CUSMA-compliant goods.

Liberal International order

• … consists of a set of global, rule-based, structured relationships based on liberal political, economic, and international order since the late 1940s.

• Liberal internationalism emphasizes cooperation, diplomacy, and multilateralism to create peace between nations.

The End of the Liberal International order

• There has been discussion on the threats to the liberal international order, which include prevalent trends:

1. Rapid Change in World order

2. Disruptions in Trends from Before

3. Fragmentation of Both Domestic and International Global Relations

What are the General implications for the end of the liberal international order?

1. Shifts in the global distribution of power

2. Great power political tension and geopolitical rivalry

3. Rising populism, nationalism, and authoritarianism

4. Economic nationalism and protectionism

5. Inequality

6. Misinformation and disinformation

7. Climate Crisis Impacts

What are the 5 core scenarios for the evolving global order according to “Scenarios of Evolving Global Order”

1. Reform

2. Replaced

3. Blocs

4. Disorder

5. Transformed

Scenario #1: Reformed

1. The G7 will lead a global reform effort to salvage the global liberal international order with significant changes, using the middle powers to usher in a new reformed era of multilateralism.

Scenario #2: Replaced

The liberal international economic order dies out and is replaced by the BRICs+ arrangement framed in terms of the US, China, and Russia to create a new concert of great powers.

Scenario #3: Blocs

1. Blocs essentially form, where countries are blocked into groups with a core.

   1. → Ex: The bloc is North America and the core is the US. 

2. New security alliances are formed and creates a new world order.

Scenario #4: Disorder

Hot Wars and multi-polar cold war

Scenario #5 Transformed

→ Hope. Accelerated climate change leads to effective climate change responses, and that digital pathways and breakthroughs do not lead to an AI driven dystopia, but increased security for the world

The Middle Power Model

• The Middle Power Model has two main tenets:

1. They have some power, not all the power:

   1. Middle Powers do not have the range of power capabilities or global interests of great powers, but do have some power capabilities and some global interests.
      

2. They influence sometimes, not all the time.

   1. Middle powers do not have the power to decisively determine international outcomes all of the time, but do have the power to influence some internation outcomes some of the time.
      

• → What this means is that middle powers need to be selective in where they are able to invest their power to actually elicit a difference.

In order to function, what are Middle Powers Dependent on?

1. Dependent on an open, rules-based trading system

2. Dependent on international peace and security

3. Dependent on multilateralism and institutions

4. Self identity

The Goals of the “Alliance for Multilateralism”

1. Defending fundamental standards of liberalism

2. Reforming and modernizing international institutions

3. Taking the initiative where governance is absent or insufficient

The Freeland Doctrine

• Proposed in Chrystia Freeland’s speech, we can divide the countries of the world into three types in world order with multilateralism and democratic backsliding.

1. Democracies

2. In-Betweens

3. Autocracies

Democracies in the Freeland Doctrine

1. → These countries are those who embrace democracy and the rule of law.

2. → They are our friend and the countries we need to lean into.

The “In-Betweens” in the Freeland Doctrine

1. → Countries that are a bit grey in their democracy and their approach to the rule of laws.

2. → They are kinda of ehhhhh in that we shouldn’t lean so much into them, but not eliminate them as potential allies entirely.

Autocracies in the Freeland Doctrine

1. → Countries with a deficit in democracy and rule of law.

2. → We should avoid these countries and lean out.

Characteristics of the Rise of China:

• → Increasing authoritarian regime under the Xi presidency,

• → Expanding global engagement in trade, political, and security relations.

• → Territorial and resource claim

• → Taiwan

• → Belt and Road initiative 

• → BRICs and Expansion.

Canada and China Relations Under the Trudeau Government

• → Initial desire to change course from the Harper era, which was characterized by high tension between the two states.

• → The hope was to reset the Canada/China relationship with an increase in trade and tourism.

• → This seemed likely, as China was Canada’s second-largest trading partner, and initial agreements were established when Trudeau came to China.

• → The relationship would soon deteriorate.

The Deteriorating Relationship Between Canada and China

• → On December 1st, 2018, Meng Wanzhou, the chief officer and deputy chair of Huawei, was arrested at YVR at an extradition request by US authorities on suspicion of violating US sanctions against Iran.

• → China responded by arresting former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. This was an attempt to get leverage over Canada to secure the release of Meng Wanzhou.

Further Tensions That Led to the Deterioration of Canada/China Relations:

• → Uyghur genocide

• → Hong Kong protests and governance

• → Unfair trade practices (pork, canola, FDI in China)

• → Chinese espionage and election interference

• → 5G telecom infrastructure and Huawei rejection

• → “Overseas service stations” and the diaspora.

Canada and China Relations Under Trudeau….Trump

→ Canada is stuck between the US and China when, under the Trump administration, there were talks about a Cold War occuring between the two.

Resetting the Canada-China Relationship

→ The Carney government is seeking a reset of the Canada-China relationship in the context of America as an unreliable partner. The next best thing is to go to the next superpower.

The Joint Statement and the Canada-China Leader’s Meeting

• → Macroeconomic engagement

• → Economic and trade cooperation

• → Energy

• → Finance

• → Public security and safety

• → People-to-people ties and cultural exchanges

• → Multiculturalism

The Headline of the Joint Statement of the Canada-China Leader’s Meeting

• China reduces Canola seed tariff from 85% to 15%

• China reduces tariffs on canola meal, lobsters, peas, and crabs

• Canada accepts 49,000 Chinese EVs per year at 6.1% tariff, which is the lowest rate we have given besides the United States.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership

• → Refers to a multilateral trade agreement between a few states. Canada is a part of it.

AUKUS (and Five Eyes)

• → Multilateral Trade Agreement

• → AUKUS is a nuclear-powered submarine pathway that delivers long-term strategic benefits for Australia, the UK, and the US.

• → The Five Eyes is an anglosphere intelligence-sharing alliance comprised of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the US.

The Quadrilateral Dialogue

• → A multilateral trade agreement

• → refers to a quadrilateral alliance between the US, Japan, India, and Australia concerned with sustaining an open, free, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.

The Indo-Pacific Strategy

• → The IPS identifies the Indo-Pacific as the world’s most dynamic region.

• → Canada’s national interests necessitate a whole-of-society, comprehensive approach to the region.

• → The objective of the IPS is to establish Canada as “an active and engaged partner” in the Indo-Pacific.

  • ↳ Continuity is not an option; we have to take this opportunity because it’s a “once-in-a-generational” global shift.

The 5 Strategic Objectives and Initiatives

1. Promoting peace, resilience and security

2. Expanding trade, investment and supply chain resilience

3. Investing in and connecting people

4. Building a sustainable and green future

5. Canada as an active and engaged partner to the Indo-Pacific

The Future of the Indo-Pacific Strategy

• → Canada requires the money and the capability to be an engaged partner in Indo-Pacific relations.

Initial Stages of the Canada-India Relationship

• → At first, there was increased cooperation between Canada and India under the Harper and early Trudeau government.

  • Nuclear Cooperation agreement

  • Energy

  • Science and technology

  • Trade and investment

• → 2011 was designated the “year of India in Canada” by both governments

• → TLDR there is a long tradition of Canadian outreach to India as they have a lot of potential.

The Canada-India Relationship Under the Trudeau Government as Tension Began:

1. Canada’s concern about the Indian government on “Sikh extremism.”

2. Trudeau criticisms of Indian government's handling of farmer protests in 2020

3.  Trudeau government allegations of Indian government involvement in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar (2023)

4.  Diplomat expulsions in 2023 and 2024

   1. → This results in a tank in the relationship.

The Current Relationship Between Canada and India

• → After initial periods of cooperation, followed by ongoing tensions, to a complete tank in the relationship, Canada under the Carney government is in the works to reset the relationship between Canada and India.